Georges PErec and ﻿an attempt at exhausting a Place﻿

On a rainy October weekend, in view of the Saint Sulpice church in Paris France, Georges Perec sat in a café watching. His purpose? To take an inventory of every detail that occurred around him, to document ordinary human existence.Although Georges Perec held occupations as a soldier and an archivist, he is best known for his literary accomplishments. His most famous works include Life: A User’s Manual (1978), and A Void (1969). As a writer Perec was an innovator, whose works also included a dream analysis and a novel written entirely without the use of the letter 'E'. However it is one of his lesser known works that my work is based on: An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris (1975).

The book itself is documentation of Perec's observations of the life that occurred in a certain area of Paris over a three day period. Within the book, he describes things that we might describe as ordinary: buses, cars, clothing, people's movements, birds, signs. But why be drawn to things that are so mundane? As Perec described in his essay, The Infra-Ordinary (1973), people are attracted to the big events and scandals. In the act of being swept up with the big stories, we forget about the things that really speak about us, the things that we experience daily, things that we've becoming accustomed to, numb to. But according to Perec, these mundane things are the things that speak volumes about us.

With this new understanding of Georges Perec and the ideas presented in his book, An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, I was able to set out, journal and camera in hand, in an attempt to exhaust a place in Lansing, MI.

To see how my attempt turned out, click the navigation buttons on the menu above. Start with the PSA ( a film representation of my experience), and work your way right!

For a full biography and list of works by Georges Perec, check out this very informative site: